Background
William Lambarde was born in London on 18 October 1536. His father John Lambarde was a draper who served three times as Master of the Drapers" Company, an alderman and a sheriff of London.
William Lambarde was born in London on 18 October 1536. His father John Lambarde was a draper who served three times as Master of the Drapers" Company, an alderman and a sheriff of London.
He studied law with Laurence Nowell, and in 1568, with Nowell"s encouragement, published a collection of Anglo-Saxon laws, Archaionomia, which was printed by John Day.
The Manor of Westcombe in Greenwich, demolished in 1725, was their family home. In 1556, Lambarde was admitted to Lincoln"s Inn. In the introduction he acknowledged Nowell"s contribution.
This publication included a woodcut map ("Lambardes map") depicting the seven kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, which is thought to be the first map of any sort to have been designed, printed and published in England, and which is very likely to have been the work of Laurence Nowell.
In 1570, while Lambarde was courting the daughter of George Multon, he completed his Perambulation of Kent, the first English county history. Circulating in manuscript before being printed in 1576, it proved to be very popular and went through several editions.
Lambarde considered writing a similar work for all of Britain, but he set the idea aside when he learned that William Camden was already working on the same project On 11 September 1570, Lambarde married Jane Multon on her 17th birthday.
She later died in 1573.
He lived in the Manor of Saint Clere in Ightham. On Laurence Nowell"s death, he inherited his books and manuscripts, which may have included the manuscript of Beowulf. He was also a bencher of Lincoln"s Inn, and a Justice of the Peace for Kent.
Lambarde founded an almshouse in East Greenwich in 1576.
He was appointed Keeper of the Rolls by the Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Egerton in 1597, and Elizabeth made him Keeper of the Records in the Tower in 1601. He died on 19 August that same year.
Lambarde probably served as a Member of Parliament for Aldborough in the Parliament of 1563–1567.